Spine or Nerve related

[Barbee44]

I've had RLS for years but it was always moderate and manageable. Since I had spinal surgery last year it has been magnified x 10. Strangely, after the surgery, part of my left leg is numb. The RLS seems worse in that leg. Could RLS be spine or nerve related? Do you have nerve or spinal issues? I'm seeing a sleep specialist tomorrow because I'm getting only 2 or 3 hrs sleep a night. The strange thing is... when I get it really bad, I come downstairs and do a crossword puzzle and it stops. If I do anything that uses the brain, it stops. Watching TV evidently doesn't use the brain because I can't sit and watch longer than 30 minutes.

[Hidden]

Hi Barbee, hope it goes well (or went well) with the sleep specialist.

Unfortunately chronic insomnia goes hand in hand with RLS. Untreated RLS prevents sleep and treatments cause early waking.

You're right, mental distraction like doing puzzles does relieve symptoms. Passive things, like watching TV doesn't.

Additionally watching TV or looking at backlit devices, PCs, laptops, tablets etc is really not a good idea in the night. Hopefully the sleep specialist will explain about the very important role that light plays in regulating sleep. If they don't, I suggest you find out more about that.

I have been on a journey of discovery the last 8 months or so. Despite having had RLS for decades, I've never really known much about it.

Following having had severe nerve pain from my spine last August and terrible insomnia between November and February, I've been prompted to find out more.

It appears that, for whatever cause, RLS is essentially an oversensitivity of motor neurons (nerve cells). This appears to be due to a lack of inhibition of the nerves rather than overstimulation. The neurons responsible for damping down excessive motor neuron activity are triggered by dopamine.

I've now read studies that say the oversensitivity occurs in the brain, but can also happen in the spine and even peripheral nerves.

All this to say that your RLS may have been affected by your spinal surgery. Certainly sensory nerves have been damaged, hence the numbness. Motor nerves will also likely to have been affected.

Last year I had severe pain due to a compressed nerve in the lumbar region. This, along with inflammation it caused made the sensory nerve oversensitive. My GP prescribed Naproxen to reduce the inflammation and Gabapentin to reduce the nerve sensitivity. If you've had surgery you will have had some inflammation.

it's likely that in your case, motor nerves are more sensitive, not just sensory nerves affected and this would affect your RLS.

Unbelievably, until last August, I'd never heard of Gabapentin. Certainly not as a treatment for RLS!

[Hidden]

Gosh you read that before I'd even finished!

Yes I'm awake too, have been since 3 am

[Barbee44 in reply to Hidden]

I dread going to bed.

[Hidden in reply to Barbee44]

You might benefit from finding out more about "sleep hygiene".

It sounds like you've fallen into the classic situation where you've spent so much time suffering in bed that you've become psychologically conditioned into dreading it, like a phobia.

One of the things sleep hygiene suggests is the 15 minute rule.

If you haven't fallen asleep after 15 mins - get up. When you feel sleepy again - go back to bed. Again, if sfter 15 mins you're not asleep - get up again.

and so on.

You may end up being out of bed all night. So be it. You will be more comfortable being up and awake than being in bed than awake and you won't dread going to bed so much.

It works, I don't get much sleep in any event, but I don't dread going to bed. Sometimes, I'm up most of the night. It's good to have some mind occupying activity planned that doesn't require physical effort.

[Barbee44 in reply to Hidden]

The sleep doc gave me ropinirole... I take the first dose tonight. I pray I don't get sick like I did with the others.

[Hidden in reply to Barbee44]

Ropinirole is a "dopamine agonist". I hope the doc told you about the possible side effects and consequences of taking a dopamine agonist.

It's a shame really that you saw a sleep specialist. Your insomnia is caused by RLS which is not really sleep disorder, it's more of a neurological disorder. A neurologist might have prescribed something different in view of your spinal problem.

I hope the Ropinirole works and you don't get sick.

[Barbee44 in reply to Hidden]

She is this: Adult Neurological Disorders and Conditions; Adult and Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, Restless Leg Syndrome and Narcolepsy

[Hidden]

Because you have RLS some sleep hygiene measures won't be very effective, but they will help to some degree.

The 15 minute rule and light hygiene can be quite effective.

sleepassociation.org/about-...

[Cats2]

It's interesting what you say about mental activity making your symptoms better. I have found the same thing... without spinal surgery. Car rides are the worst. With my husband retired he does all the driving and sitting for hours in a car anytime we go anywhere is making the RLS intolerable. I finally told him he has to give up the steering wheel to me once in a while or all trips are off. I even downloaded a couple games to keep my mind occupied on car rides because it was getting so bad. TV only works if I am really interested in the show.... otherwise it is awful. I think sometimes giving your brain something to do helps.

[Barbee44 in reply to Cats2]

I do crosswords on long rides.